The Importance of Forest Management in Psychological Restoration: Exploring the Effects of Landscape Change in a Suburban Forest

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F62156489%3A43410%2F24%3A43925631" target="_blank" >RIV/62156489:43410/24:43925631 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091439" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091439</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land13091439" target="_blank" >10.3390/land13091439</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The Importance of Forest Management in Psychological Restoration: Exploring the Effects of Landscape Change in a Suburban Forest

Original language description

Currently, there is a marked increase in the importance of the environmental and cultural ecosystem services of the forest. Among the social benefits, protection of human health and improvement of human well-being come to the fore. Forests, both reserve and commercial, benefit human health. However, people often have negative attitudes toward forest management activities, especially near urban areas, and prefer forest management that results in a forest that is close to natural. Second-growth forest and clear-cutting are the most visible manifestations of ongoing forest management in forests. The purpose of this study was to compare the benefits derived from exposure to second-growth forest, clear-cutting and mature forest stands. Fifty-five students of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW (WULS-SGGW) participated in the study. The study was conducted in October 2023 in a forest within the city of Otwock, within the range of the Warsaw metropolitan area. Participants were exposed for 15 min to selected plots: second- growth forest, clear-cutting area and mature forest stand. Before the experiment (PRE-Test control trial) and after each of the exposures four psychological questionnaires were administered: the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Restorative Outcome Scale (ROS), the Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS) and Profile of Mood States (POMS). The results indicate that not all analyzed features of the forest landscape have a regenerative effect on people. Exposure to a commercial forest, only in the case of a mature stand, yielded the most benefits in terms of mood improvement. In contrast, exposure to clear-cutting area resulted in a decrease in positive feelings and an increase in negative feelings, leading to a complete disturbance of mood, an increase in tension, depression and a decrease in feelings of vigor. Clear-cutting area has significantly worse restorative properties compared to mature forest stands and second-growth forest. This observation is relevant to forest management within city limits and in the suburban zone of large cities. Not only is clear-cutting area not accepted by people visiting forests for recreational purposes, but it leads to a detraction from the health benefits provided by forests.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10511 - Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Land

ISSN

2073-445X

e-ISSN

2073-445X

Volume of the periodical

13

Issue of the periodical within the volume

9

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

13

Pages from-to

1439

UT code for WoS article

001323048200001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85205272178